Crawler track link for a support carriage of a machine for laying or renovating a railway line and articulated assembly of such

Abstract

The invention relates to a link (10) for a crawler track (100) for a support carriage (1) of a machine for laying or renovating a railway line, comprising a one-piece metal part (11) defining two axes of articulation (A1, A2) that are parallel to and spaced apart from one another, the one-piece metal part (11) having a central portion (12) located between the two axes of articulation (A1, A2) and two opposing end portions (13, 14) on either side of the central portion (12), each of the end portions (13, 14) being associated with one of the two axes of articulation (A1, A2) and comprising a plurality of parallel fingers (15) which are separated in pairs by finger-free spaces (16) and through which holes (17) pass, which holes are aligned along the associated axis of articulation (A1, A2), the one-piece metal part (11) comprising a rolling surface (18) located on one side of a geometric reference plane (P) that contains the two axes of articulation (A1, A2) and a surface (19) opposite to the rolling surface (18), located on another side of the geometric reference plane (P), the opposing surface (19) being covered with a layer of elastomeric material (20) that covers the central portion (12) and at least part of each of the fingers (15) of the two end portions (13, 14).

1 . A crawler track link for a support carriage of a machine for laying or renovating a railway line, comprising a one-piece metal part defining two axes of articulation that are parallel to and spaced apart from one another, the one-piece metal part having a central portion located between the two axes of articulation and two opposing end portions on either side of the central portion, each of the end portions being associated with one of the two axes of articulation and comprising a plurality of parallel fingers which are separated in pairs by finger-free spaces and through which holes pass, which holes are aligned along an associated axis of articulation, the one-piece metal part comprising a rolling surface situated on one side of a geometric reference plane that contains the two axes of articulation and a surface opposite to the rolling surface, located on another side of the geometric reference plane, the opposing surface being covered with a layer of elastomeric material that covers the central portion and at least part of each of the fingers of the two end portions. 
     
     
         2 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 1 , wherein the layer of elastomeric material completely covers a main portion of the opposing surface delimited by the two axes of articulation, and covers at least part of the fingers of the two end portions beyond the main portion. 
     
     
         3 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 2 , wherein the main portion of the opposing surface is flat. 
     
     
         4 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 1 , wherein the layer of elastomeric material has a thickness greater than or equal to 6 μm. 
     
     
         5 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 1 , wherein the end of each of the fingers is rounded, the rounding of each of said fingers being delimited by a rounded connecting face configured to form a junction between a face of the rolling surface and a face of the opposing surface. 
     
     
         6 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 5 , wherein the layer of elastomeric material has inclined, for example curved or chamfered portions, each covering a rounded portion of the end of each of the fingers on the side of the surface opposite the rolling surface. 
     
     
         7 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 1 , wherein the layer of elastomeric material is continuous. 
     
     
         8 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 1 , wherein the layer of elastomeric material has a hardness greater than or equal to 92 Shore A, and/or less than or equal to 97 Shore A. 
     
     
         9 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 1 , wherein a center-to-center distance taken between the axes of articulation of the end portions is greater than or equal to 45 mm and/or less than or equal to 55 mm. 
     
     
         10 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the fingers on each of the two end portions have flat transverse guide side faces perpendicular to the axes of articulation, delimiting the finger-free spaces pairwise. 
     
     
         11 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 1 , wherein the fingers of one of the two end portions are each positioned between two planes perpendicular to the axes of articulation and delimiting spaces without fingers of the other of the two end portions. 
     
     
         12 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 1 , wherein the rolling surface comprises two rolling tracks separated by a guide rib. 
     
     
         13 . An articulated assembly ( 100 ′) of at least two links of  claim 1 , wherein the fingers of an end portion of a first of the two links are inserted into finger-free spaces of an end portion of a second of the two links so as to be criss-crossed, the articulated assembly ( 100 ′) further comprising a hinge pin inserted into holes of each of the criss-crossed fingers of the first of the two links and the second of the two links. 
     
     
         14 . The articulated assembly ( 100 ′) according to  claim 13 , wherein the links are identical. 
     
     
         15 . A crawler-track running gear for a support carriage of a machine for laying or renovating a railway line, comprising a crawler consisting of an articulated assembly ( 100 ′) of a plurality of links according to  claim 13  assembled successively in pairs and comprising a frame carrying rollers for guiding the crawler track for rolling on the rolling surfaces of the links of the crawler track. 
     
     
         16 . The crawler-track running gear according to  claim 15 , wherein a center-to-center distance between two adjacent rollers is greater than or equal to 45 mm and/or less than or equal to 55 mm. 
     
     
         17 . The crawler-track running gear according to  claim 15 , wherein the rollers have axes parallel to the axes of articulation of the links, a center-to-center distance of the rollers being strictly greater than a value of a center-to-center distance between the axes of articulation of a link and strictly less than the value of twice the center-to-center distance between the axes of articulation of a link. 
     
     
         18 . A support carriage of a machine for laying or renovating a railway line, wherein the support carriage comprises at least two crawler-track running gears of  claim 15 . 
     
     
         19 . The link for a crawler track according to  claim 1 , wherein the layer of elastomeric material has a constant thickness.